Shampoo
by Lady Bisclavret
Summary: ONE SHOT. Inuyasha comes to bring Kagome back to the Feudal Era, but something's not quite right. What on earth is that weird smell? (My very first fic, please rip it to shreds.)


Souta looked up from the TV when he heard the front door open. He spotted Inuyasha in the hallway, peering awkwardly into the room.

"Hi Inu-no-niichan! Have you come to get Kagome again?"

"Erm, yeah. Is she home?" inadvertently

"Yes, but she's taking a bath right now. She'll be out soon, though. Would you like something to eat?"

Mrs. Higurashi appeared in the doorway, holding a half empty casserole dish. "I have some leftovers from breakfast, Inuyasha. I can heat some up if you're hungry."

"Er, okay. Thank you." He replied, feeling a little self conscious.

She retreated into the kitchen and began to arrange a dish for him. Inuyasha sat down next to Souta in front of the TV and proceeded to menace Buyo for a few minutes while he waited. She came back again a few minutes later and cheerfully handed him a steaming plate, which he all but inhaled. Upstairs, Kagome emerged from the bathroom and went into her own room. Inuyasha had just finished when she finally came downstairs, fully dressed although she had a towel around her shoulders because her hair was still soaking wet.

"Are you ready to go yet?" He demanded.

"Are you kidding? I have to do my hair and I still have history homework to finish!" She exclaimed, exasperated.

"Hey sis, I've got an idea!" Souta piped up. "Inu-no-niichan can dry your hair for you while you finish your history!"

Kagome glared at him, but Inuyasha was interested. "How would I do that?" he asked.

"It's simple. All you have to do is hold up the hairdryer to her head." Souta explained.

"What's a hairdryer?"

"Hold on, I'll go get it!" Souta got up raced out of the room. He returned a moment later with the aforementioned device and held it out to Inuyasha, ignoring his sister's increasingly wrathful gaze. "See, all you have to do is keep this switch turned to 'High'. Then just sit back a little ways from her head ('cause it can get pretty hot), point this end towards her hair, and wave it back and forth, like this." He put the hairdryer into hanyou's hand and showed him how to move his wrist.

"And that's it? Hey, that's easy!" He agreed.

"SOUTA!" exploded Kagome.

"No, it's okay Kagome! I can do this!" said Inuyasha. "Come on, I want to try this out!" Then he paused suddenly, sniffing. "Hey, what's that smell?" He said, wrinkling his nose.

"What?" asked Souta, while Kagome put a hand over her face.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and inclined his face upwards, sniffing the air carefully. Then he turned towards Kagome and took a step forward.

Automatically, she took a step backwards. "What on earth are you doing?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow.

He opened his eyes. "You smell strangely."

She blinked. "What?"

He closed his eyes again and started to circle her slowly, smelling the air around her. Kagome shrank back a little, blushing, while Souta and Buyo watched in wide eyed fascination. "Your hair. The smell is coming from your hair." He finally concluded.

"My hair...oh! You must mean the new shampoo I used." She realized. "It's been getting harder and harder to get the youkai blood and slime out of my hair with the one I'm used to using, so I decided it was time for a change. Is that…all right?" she asked, smiling nervously while she followed his meticulous progress with her eyes.

"What? Oh, oh no, there's no problem." Inuyasha muttered, distractedly. Then he seemed to realize what he was doing and froze, staring at the floor in embarrassment.

"I don't suppose there's anything particularly wrong with you drying my hair." Kagome quickly amended, glancing uneasily at Souta and Buyo who had witnessed the entire affair from start to finish.

"Really?" he asked, looking up hopefully.

"Yes. Now come on, I want to get that homework out of the way." said Kagome. "You can go back to watching TV now, Souta." she added.

She walked out of the room, Inuyasha following close behind her. When boy and cat were out of earshot, Inuyasha murmured, "Um, Kagome-"

She paused for a moment, and turned around to meet his anxious eyes. "It's all right. No harm done." She reassured him, smiling. He relaxed. "If I decide to change my shampoo again, I'll mention it to you ahead of time, all right?" She opened the door to her room, and then turned to face him again. "Hey, would you like to try it sometime?"

"What, the shampoo?"

"Sure! It's very gentle, I promise. Here-" she suddenly ducked around him and disappeared through a door further down the hall and returned carrying a small blue green bottle labeled "Essence of Hydrangea". Kagome handed it to him, and he sniffed it suspiciously while she searched her walls for a free outlet to plug the hairdryer into. "Rats," she muttered suddenly. "Hold on, I'll be right back." He watched her go, and sniffed the bottle again. He allowed himself a small, secret smile. Neither youkai muck nor a bottle of pleasant smelling chemicals could manage to completely suppress her own natural scent as it streamed behind her like a delicate veil of lace.


End file.
